On Nov. 6, Lisa Wheeler was driving along Portland's North Interstate Avenue when she struck a bicyclist in the bike lane.

Police declined to cite her. And the Multnomah County district attorney's office didn't file charges in the crash, which sent cyclist Siobhan Doyle to the hospital with serious injuries.

Still, Wheeler, 52, a Portland resident, found herself in a Multnomah County courtroom Wednesday morning, pleading no contest to failing to yield to a bicyclist in the bike lane and agreeing to pay a $182 fine.

Christopher Heaps, a bike commuter and environmental lawyer with Stoel Rives, and a handful of cycling advocates pursed the case. Heaps used a little-known Oregon law, allowing citizens to petition the court to cite errant drivers.

Portland bicyclists say the case is a harbinger of two-wheelers taking new avenues to justice. They're planning to chase allegedly reckless and aggressive motorists through the courts when authorities don't.

"I think if we want Portland to be a city where people feel safe to bike in," Heaps said, "drivers need to understand that when they hurt or kill people on the roads, there are consequences."

He said he was satisfied with the outcome. "Of course, it would have been better if the police had handled it," he said.

In the future, if police decline to investigate drivers in injury collisions where cyclists feel there is clear negligence, "we'll be going after" citizen citations, Heaps said.

Wheeler struck Doyle as she made a right turn onto North Greeley Avenue from southbound North Interstate Avenue. Despite Doyle's serious injuries, police policies at the time required investigations only when a cyclist suffered "trauma-level" injuries.

"It was at the end of a big hill. I didn't see her, and she didn't see me," Wheeler said, recalling the collision after Wednesday's hearing. "The weird thing is there was nothing on my car. She must have hit the brakes and went over my car."

The collision, which happened at the same intersection where cyclist Brett Jarolimek was killed two weeks earlier, sparked frustration among many cyclists about police policies. Portland police have since changed their practice.

Heaps said he hadn't considered the Oregon statute that allows citizens to initiate a "violation proceeding" against another person until last fall's spike in bicycle accidents in Portland.

Wheeler said she pleaded no contest because she was a "a mess" over hurting Doyle and didn't want to drag it out any further.

The driver of a concrete truck involved in the October death of 19-year-old bicyclist Tracey Sparling outside the Crystal Ballroom has been cited $242 for failure to yield the right of way. But police have said they will not cite 40-year-old Bryan Lowes of Oregon City in the Oct. 22 death of Jarolimek, 31. Jarolimek was killed by the garbage truck Lowes was driving.

That doesn't mean Lowes is off the hook with Heaps, however.

"Now," Heaps said, "I'll be pursuing a citation in that case as well."